What the Social Sciences know about Bias

Humans do not use reasoning as a way to expand
knowledge and make better decisions; rather, human reason is no more than a means to construct (biased) arguments for the purpose of persuading others

University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland - Hugo Mercier & Dan Sperber

Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory

The social sciences have made significant progress in characterizing various aspects of bias in areas such as law enforcement, forensic science, race and gender studies, and business
management. But academics, to my knowledge, simply assume and assert they are free of bias despite evidence to the contrary.

However, the above quotation (at the top of this page) is one of the more interesting finding in social science especially when the word "biased" is added for clarity. The clarification
is required because the authors did not emphasize this aspect of the matter, and concluded they, and their colleagues, were not affected by bias.

Nevertheless, over a hundred types of bias have been identified and characterized. Here are some recent quotations from preeminent researchers on the topic of bias. Our work was based
on these, and many other, findings of the social sciences:

“For some of our most important beliefs we have no evidence at all, except that people we love and trust hold these beliefs” - Dr. D. Kahneman – Princeton University.

“If you thought that science was certain - well, that is just an error on your part” – Dr. R. Feynman.